Can Coquelin’s international snub be good news for Arsenal?

I have to feel a bit sorry for the Arsenal midfield star Francis Coquelin, as he has been ignored once again by Didier Deschamps, the manager of the France national team. We can only hope that this latest snub will inspire the 24-year old on to even greater efforts for the Gunners.

I can sort of understand why the France boss did not select our defensive midfielder for the international friendly matches with Netherlands and Russia over the next week or so. After all the young Gunner has been out of action due to injury for some time and is just getting back to his best.

On the other hand, I have to question the wisdom of Deschamps not to give Coquelin a chance before he was injured and after he had come back with a bang from his loan spell at Charlton. France have had five international breaks and 10 games in that time and they were all friendlies as they qualified for this summer’s tournament as hosts.

In that time Le Coq was getting rave reviews but the France boss has not bothered to even get him into training to see what he can do. Okay it is up to Deschamps and sometimes national coaches are cautious about new players, but what would be making me even more unhappy if I was Coquelin is the fact that Deschamps has just given the Leicester midfielder Kante his first call up.

Is young Francis doomed to be the Mikel Arteta of French football? And will this snub actually be good for Arsenal and Coquelin’s determination to impress?

Tags Deschamps France Kante

18 Comments

    1. Bro, Kante might be a bit better than Coq for now, but I strongly believe Coq will get to his level and even surpass him after next season..if Wenger had believed in him before being forced to, Coq would have improved greatly..am not sure about this but I think Kante has been playing in a settled team before Coq, albeit an inferior one..
      And isn’t Kante box-to box, while Drinkwater is the main DM? Enlight me as I honestly dunno..

  1. For Arsenal, it might be a good news, but for Coq,it depends on the kind of person he is.
    It is either the snub spurs him to do better and improve or the opposite but personally I think Coq is a strong lad and very determined so I think he will take it well..

  2. I said it might be good for Arsenal because before this article I have been thinking about how many of our players will be at the Euros and am selfishly happy as many of best players won’t be there..
    Ospina,Bellerin,Mert,Monreal,Coquelin,Chambers,Elneny,Sanchez.and am sure only two will be chosen from Ox, theo,wilshere,and Welbeck,there is no way they will all go!
    So Coq being snubbed iss good for Arsenal

  3. I think Coq is over-rated.

    To me he is one of Arsenal’s most important players and we can not do without him. However this largely due to the fact that we, as a team, and as a back 4, are so poor in defending.

    Coq is miles ahead of Arteta and Flamini in defending and closing down players, who he replaced when they got injured. However going forward he is quite average. This has also taken away a little of our attacking efforts and highlighted how much we miss the forward threat of Santi (who is a poor defender).

    In an ideal world Coq would be more box-to-box, or a more complete player.

    And this is probably why France doesn’t fancy him enough (for instance they don’t have a Mertesacker slow CD who needs protection).

    1. He doesn’t need to. We’ve some over active b2b players already, so we need someone to hold or cut counter attack. He’s perfect for this job.

      1. He is a DM ffs! his job is to win us possesion, break opposition attacks, close down players, all of which he does exceptionally well! he has added some vital aspects to his play as well, ie, his pass accuracy has improved (89.3%, only cazorla has better pass accuracy than him) and he is also good at keeping the ball….how often do you see coquelin getting dispossessed? he only had a dip in form after his injury, but he is getting back to his best now.
        So, the statement about him being overated is total b.s.

      2. I agree, he is crucial and we can not “live” without him. But ask yourself would he make it into the team ahead of Vierra or Petite? Or does the need for his abilities get amplified as a result of the inabilities and lack of discipline and lack of defending qualities of the likes of Walcott, Ramsey etc.?

        Don’t get me wrong I know we can not live without him, I just think this is because of our over all lack of defending abilities as a team. To me he is just not the complete player Vierra was, we should spend the money on the next level midfield player, we should bring in a top quality partner for Kos, Mert is a liability in many games. Our team defending needs to improve.

        Remember the help Freddie Ljungberg gave the team with his defending abilities whilst also scoring goals? The better the team defends the less we have to rely on Coq cleaning up the mess created by other player’s deficiencies.

        1. FC meteoric rise from Championship loanee to Arsenal first team enforcer has been well documented and quite impressive however I tend to agree that his ceiling as a player is considerably lower than many peers @ his position, including a few of his French colleagues. I would gladly welcome the arrival of Krychowiak, Kante, Kondogbia, Bender to challenge FQ and finally strengthen a position that has been woefully short in numbers and quality for far to many years.

          1. Thats not how it works…the CDM is a specialist position more like the GK where 1 player cements his spot as first choice, with a few back ups in case the first choice gets injured or loses form. A team cannot have 2 GKs of same class and quality (e.g. Cech & Courtois, Sczesny & Ospina), in a similar way, it is not advisable to have Coq & Kante/Kondogbia/Bender if they all have similar sets of skills. That means one has to be back up, but world class players don’t conform well to the idea of being used as back up. So this means one of them might leave if approached by a decent club.

            1. Well I hate to break it 2 you that FQ would be riding the pine or featuring elsewhere if GK, Kante or Kongobia were purchased in the summer.

          2. I agree 100%. And this is not in any way a dig at Coq. He is one of more important defensive players.

  4. This is only a bad snub because it may hurt his confidence. Stats show he is one of the best in the world in his position and has been good for two seasons. However i hope it doesn’t get to him. He is a great CDM but Kante is just more versatile as he can hurt forward too which is probably why he got called up.

  5. I think it is an unfair comparison. Taking into account Coq’s injury he had. Maybe it is also a factor for Deschamps to consider, who is more injury prone, Coq or Kante? I think bookings might also play a role. Who is more likely to get sent off? However I think coq is one of our best. Considering injuries it might be a blessing in disguise.

  6. England should get Coquelin.
    He hasn’t played a single game for the french senior team and England really could do with a tough tackling CM…

    If France don’t want such a great footballer then Hodgson should be pulling out all the stops to get him to switch to English allegiance.

  7. Deschamps has heard of the Arsenal virus (injuries) and that Coquelin has caught it. Deschamps is concerned that it might spread to the rest of the french team so has put le coq in quarantine.

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